Awakenings from Then ’til Now allows you to Embrace Your Past, Empower the Present, Enrich Your Future.

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Life IS history in the making. Every word we say, everything we do becomes history the moment it is said or done. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness. For those who might consider history boring, think again: It is who we are, what we do and why we are here. We are certainly individuals in our thoughts and deeds but we all germinated from seeds planted long, long ago.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Traditional Tom Turkey

During the first Thanksgiving, Pilgrim's cooking methods and menus were crude as compared to what most of us have experienced in our lifetime. There were no electric or gas ovens. In fact, no electricity period. Colonial utensils and hardware consisted of frying pans, kettles, iron pots, wooden spoons, and a mortar and pestle.

On the menu, as uncovered in Two Sides of Thanksgiving, one would more than likely NOT find turkey to be the main meat that filled the Pilgrim's bellies. Nor would fancy dressing or giblet gravy grace the table and any signs of sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie nowhere would be found!

A sneak peak into a Pilgrim kitchen might disclose the following...

Each house had a prominent fire pit and
chimney, where the cooking was normally done by the women and girls. Several
"recipe books" from the period exist, and provide some interesting insights into cooking
at the time. Perhaps the most famous of these is Gervase Markham's The
English Housewife, first published in 1615. A recipe for cooking a young
turkey or chicken reads:

If you will boil chickens, young turkeys,
peahens, or any house fowl daintily, you shall, after you have trimmed them,
drawn them, trussed them, and washed them, fill their bellies as full of parsley
as they can hold; then boil them with salt and water only till they be enough:
then take a dish and put into it verjuice [the juice of sour crab-apples] and
butter, and salt, and when the butter is melted, take the parsley out of the
chicken's bellies, and mince it very small, and put it to the verjuice and
butter, and stir it well together; then lay in the chickens, and trim the dish
with sippets [fried or toasted slices of bread], and so serve it
forth. [Source: MayflowerHistory.com]

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About Me

Sharla is a graduate of Troy State University and an educator with a flair for writing in poetic verse. Her latest book, Awakenings from Then ’til Now is available from Tate Publishing. It is dedicated to those who laid the foundation and established the platform for our American freedom: those who have served in the past, presently serve, or will serve our military forces in the future. A profound appreciation is extended for the sacrifice of these brave men and women who left or will leave their homes and family to ensure America’s freedom endures.

A grave price is being paid every moment of every day of the year for all the freedom America has to offer. Let us not forget those who have fought or are fighting for our nation; they are the epitome of the human spirit called freedom!